A Twist of Fate
by Guardian of Nesh
Summary: Written for the Alternate Partner Challenge on the Digimon Fanfiction Challenges Forum. Tamers AU. The bond between Digimon and Tamer changes both in ways no one can predict, but what if the partnerships were a bit mixed up? With different Digimon for our main three Tamers, how would that affect the characters?
1. Chapter 1: Nails in the Wrong Shoes

**A Twist of Fate**

I don't own Digimon, I'm just sort of playing around with it.

Before we begin this story I feel the need to give a preface so that you as the reader know _exactly_ what you're in for when we start. As you can probably tell from the summary I provided for this fanfic it is an alternate _Tamers_ universe with some of the Digimon partners switched around. By some, I mean the main three and Impmon.

Now what does this mean for the plot of _Tamers_? Surprisingly less than one might think. A lot of the season's plot is really outside of our heroes' hands. What partners our main trio have isn't really going to affect what Yamaki and HYPNOS do, or what Digimon appear and when and where they do. If you're expecting the canon plot to go out the window this isn't your kind of fic.

That's not to to say that changes won't occur, because they will. It's just that the overarching plot of the season will remain intact. What _will_ change are the characters themselves. Not in the sense that the canon characters won't be there or won't act like themselves, but that their interactions and character development will change and that of course will change the story in quite a few interesting ways.

You see the relationship between a human and their Digimon partner is symbiotic (especially in T_amers_ which has some of the most fleshed out Digimon partners of the the franchise). The pair learn and grow from one another and their outlook on the world changes due to said interaction. So if you mix the partners up the lessons learned and the outlooks formed change, therefore how the new partnerships interact with _everyone else_ changes as well. That's what we'll really be exploring here. Are these changes good or bad? Let's find out together.

**Chapter 1: Nails in the Wrong Shoes**

Rika Nonaka tossed the medal she'd just won into the corner of her room. It meant nothing to her. Her victories in the Digimon card game tournaments were getting to be too easy now. She was the best, the Digimon Queen. No, that wasn't quite true, at least not in her mind. She was only second best, there was still someone Rika felt she needed to defeat before she could truly be called the best.

Ryo Akiyama, the only person to ever best her in the Digimon card game. The one they called the Digimon King. Rika still hadn't gotten over the stinging loss he'd handed her over a year ago. She desperately wanted another shot at him, a chance to prove once and for all that she was better than him. Unfortunately he'd disappeared shortly after the tournament he'd beat her in, that was how she'd attained her title. There was no one else who compared with Ryo in terms of skill.

As much as Rika loathed to admit it, even to herself, without the motivation to put Ryo Akiyama in his place once and for all the card game had just become boring to her. Every match she was in was a complete walkover in her favor. The game just didn't present any challenge to her anymore.

That realization was bitterly humorous. Digimon was her thing. It was her escape from a life where her father had abandoned them and had another family and her mother the famous fashion model was barely ever around. Even when her mother _was_ around she wasn't much comfort. She didn't understand Rika at all and just wanted to turn her into her own little mini-me. Digimon was the thing she excelled at and now ironically she was _too_ good at it to enjoy it.

She still loved Digimon. Sometimes she wished they were real, a real battle, now _that_ would be a challenge. She'd put considerable thought into what kind of Digimon partner she would have. Eventually she decided that no normal Digimon would do. She didn't want just any partner, she wanted the perfect partner. So she'd decided to design her own Digimon.

It was dorky, she knew that. Designing their own Digimon, that was something losers and geeks did. So why did she do it? Honestly she had no idea, it just felt right to her. Imagining the look on Ryo's face when she showed up with her own custom-made living breathing Digimon brought a smirk of satisfaction to her face. If she could tame a real Digimon then no one would ever claim that Ryo Akiyama was better than her again.

It was never going to happen though. Rika knew that. Digimon was just fiction. A card game, an anime, video games. None of it was real and it never would be. Still she pulled the small notebook that had all the specifications for her perfect Digimon out of the back pocket of her jeans to admire them one more time.

On these pages were rather crude drawings of a red and black dinosaur-like Digimon. A Virus-type, Rookie level, after all where was the challenge in just making a Mega level Digimon? She'd dubbed him Guilmon. While she had made her ideal partner a Rookie level she'd made him strong for that level at the very least. The Digimon Queen shouldn't have a weak Digimon after all. His Pyro Sphere attack would be devastating to his foes.

Rika made her way over to the table in her room and put down the box that contained her Digimon cards and card reader but since she was doing so one-handed she managed to lose her grip on the box and its contents spilled all over the floor.

Rika cursed slightly as she moved to clean the mess up. She put her notebook on the table so she could use both hands and began to scoop her cards back into the box. That was when she saw it, the card that would change her life forever. It was an almost solid blue, with a holographic stylized yellow D with some sort of darker blue monster coming out of it on the back. That gave Rika pause, and with good reason, she knew she didn't own a card like this. Had some wise guy slipped it into her box at the tournament?

Curiosity got the better of her and she swiped it through her card reader. Immediately the screen went haywire showing random numbers in rapid succession. Not only that but the device begun to violently spark. Rika dropped it like a hot potato and watched in awe as her card reader changed shape before her eyes. What it became was a mostly white device that still had a card reader slot ,a couple of blue buttons at the bottom, a small screen surrounded by a black square and then a blue ring. There was a blue strap at the top with a black clip that would make it easier to carry.

Somehow Rika knew what this thing was. It was impossible, it couldn't be real. She had to be dreaming. Yet when she reached out to touch it felt solid and real. It was a Digivice. It was _her_ Digivice. Had the universe heard her wish and made the game a reality for her? No, not quite, she still didn't have her own Digimon. How was she going to get one of those?

Rika immediately regretted asking herself that question. She became surrounded by silhouettes of Digimon all creeping closer to her. She stumbled backward leaving her Digivice on the table. The Digimon began to speak.

"There she is, the one the call the Digimon Queen." One said.

"The strongest of them all." Another chimed in.

"Make me stronger!"

"Make me Digivolve!" A dozen Digimon were calling out to her, begging her to tame them. The shadows crept ever closer, threatening to claim her. She kept moving away finally hitting wall of her room. With no visible escape there was only one thing she could do: Plead with the monsters.

"Get back! I can't tame all of you, I only want one strong Digimon!" The shadows kept moving closer. She had to do something. She needed help on impulse Rika called out the first name that came to mind.

"Guilmon!" After all the strange things that had happened in the last few minutes Rika shouldn't have been as surprised as she was when she saw her designs for Guilmon tear themselves from her notebook and scan themselves through her Digivice's card reader but she was. After all, paper didn't move on its own, of course Digimon weren't supposed to be real either.

The Digimon retreated from her, leaving Rika alone in her room once more. She took some deep breaths to steel herself and walked back over to the table. With trembling hands she reached out for her Digivice and picked it up. Looking at the screen she couldn't help but smile as she saw a Digi-egg. Guilmon's Digi-egg.

Judging from what she'd just seen this wouldn't be some virtual pet game. Digimon were real. If those Digimon could come to her than Guilmon certainly could. She was even willing to bet that some wild Digimon had crossed over into the real world. It was time for the Digimon Queen to take her game to the next level. Rika Nonaka was going to have her own Digimon, not just any Digimon though, her perfect Digimon for her. The one she designed herself. She was going to have Guilmon.

With a smirk on her lips Rika made a statement that, if they had heard it would've chilled the blood of most Digimon. "Game on."

* * *

Takato Matsuki was a pretty normal kid. He went to school, he got decent grades and liked to goof off with his friends. He had his hobbies, chief among them art and Digimon. Takato was a decently talented artist and a self-professed Digimon fanboy. If he wasn't watching Digimon or playing the card game he was drawing pictures of Digimon, or rather one particular Digimon.

The walls of Takato's room were lined with hand drawn pictures of a yellow bipedal fox with purple gloves. Renamon. Renamon was Takato's favorite Digimon of all. He'd often thought of making his own Digimon when he first started watching the show, but then he got a Renamon card and the rest was history.

Something about Renamon captivated him in a way no other Digimon could. When he pictured himself with a Digimon partner he always pictured himself with a Renamon. Then came that day six months ago when his wish came true.

He'd found a mysterious Blue Card in his collection and scanned it through his card reader. The card reader turned into a Digivice. Thinking he got a wish he wished that Renamon was his. Just like that she appeared in front of him and they'd been a team ever since. Fighting Digimon to make Renamon stronger.

It was what Renamon wanted, she wanted to be stronger, to Digivolve. So when wild Digimon appeared Takato and Renamon would go fight them. Sometimes they had to retreat because the Digimon were just too strong for Renamon but she'd still been able to download a decent amount of data and get stronger.

She hadn't been able to Digivolve though. Takato was beginning to wonder if he was doing something wrong. Everything was so simple on the TV show. Renamon had come to him so he could make her stronger. She was getting stronger, but was it fast enough for her? Was he a good enough Tamer for her? Takato was snapped out of his thoughts when appeared in front of him in a shimmer.

Takato was glad it was dark so the blush on his face was hidden. He tried not to stare at the beautiful creature in front of him, he probably didn't succeed. His gaze wandered up to Renamon's piercing blue eyes and lingered there.

"A new Digimon has appeared." She said curtly. Takato had only been paying partial attention but he got the message and got of of bed quickly and changed out if his pajamas and into his street clothes and goggles. Back when he'd first become Renamon's Tamer these late night fighting sessions had been hard on him but now he was a practiced hand at getting ready as fast as possible. He was less than thrilled about having to go out tonight, he could hear rain and thunder. Going out in a storm meant having to make sure his parents didn't notice the wet clothes, but he just couldn't say no to Renamon.

"Alright, lead the way." He said. The pair of them were deathly silent as they crept downstairs, a skill Renamon had had to help Takato develop after the first few attempts had ended in disaster. His parents had caught him trying to sneak out of the house to fight Digimon early in his partnership with Renamon. He had only just recently gained back their trust, one false move and he might as well kiss Digimon taming goodbye.

Takato gave himself a brief pat on the back for managing to not wake his parents up as he closed the door to their home and bakery. Wordlessly he climbed on his bike and followed Renamon as she took off in the direction of the digital field that would house the newly emerging Digimon. He tried desperately to focus on the coming battle and not how radiant his partner looked in the moonlight but his heart just wasn't in it.

In all honesty he wasn't even sure what his job as a Digimon Tamer actually was. Renamon assured him that their partnership was important, that Takato would be able to make her stronger. He just sort of stood there and watched her fight, and while that was fun he couldn't help but feel like he wasn't really needed and Renamon was just trying to make him feel better.

So Takato's mind went back on autopilot and he returned to admiring his partner's graceful movements. Takato shook his head to clear it, these strange thoughts about Renamon needed to stop. _"You're a human, she's a Digimon. You can't..."_ Can't what, he stopped that thought in its tracks. Takato didn't dare follow that train of thought to its conclusion. He was afraid of what he might find at the end of the tracks.

He had his suspicions of where that train of thought would lead deep down, but he couldn't risk following it. He didn't dare admit or contemplate what he thought these feelings might be. There was nothing good down that road. Besides who knew what Renamon would think... Takato sighed in relief as telltale fog bank of a Digimon crossing over into the real world appeared in his vision. Now there would be a distraction from his odd thoughts, at least for a little while. Now it was time to fight.

Takato moved his goggles to their proper place around his eyes, instead of on his forehead where he usually kept them and left his bike on the side of the street. Renamon had already entered the digital field so he followed his partner into battle. Takato shivered as he walked, it had already been cold due to the thunderstorm, though the rain was being slowed by the field, and for some reason he didn't understand it was always slightly colder inside digital fields.

It _usually _was anyway. This one was odd in that respect, the deeper he got into the field the warmer the temperature became. Maybe it had something to do with whatever Digimon had come through. He'd know soon enough, the fog was beginning to clear slightly which meant he was getting close to the center of the field and the new Digimon. He found Renamon there waiting for him.

"Any idea what we're dealing with Renamon?" He asked the fox Digimon as he put his goggles back on his forehead; this deep into the digital field he no longer needed the protection they afforded him. He saw his partner narrow her sapphire orbs at the still silhouetted Digimon in front of them. Takato knew that Renamon had better eyesight than he did, Digimon generally had better eyesight than humans.

The Digimon analyzer function of his Digivice which was tied into Renamon's eyes activated. Takato saw a flaming feline form appear in the picture. He gripped the red device and brought it closer to his face so he could read the data on their new pray easier.

What he read he then spoke aloud, "Lynxmon, a Vaccine attribute Animal Digimon. Armor level, which is equivalent to a Champion. It's a rival to Garurumon and its attacks are Howling Buster and Wild Nail Claws. It looks like this one may be tough Renamon."

"Don't worry Takato, I can handle it." Renamon's voice had a cool, almost soothing tone as she stalked forward. Takato knew that his partner was trying to put him at ease. He wanted to believe that Renamon could handle Lynxmon, it wasn't that he didn't have faith in her, it was just that with every battle he feared he might lose her. That was a thought he truly could not bear. He wished he knew how to help her, how to make her Digivolve, but for now all he could do was just stand on the sidelines and hope for the best. He hated this part of being Renamon's Tamer.

Renamon stalked forward slowly, catching the attention of the snarling Lynxmon, Takato began to back up, knowing how dangerous these confrontations could be. He'd done so just in time too. Lynxmon lunged forward attacking Renamon, causing an explosion on impact. If he had to guess he'd say that had been Lynxmon's Wild Nail Claw attack. Takato shielded his eyes an turned away from the battle for a moment in order to recover from the explosion. When the smoke cleared Takato saw that Lynxmon was on top of Renamon and had his partner pinned down.

Takato's heart was in his throat, afraid that Lynxmon was about to go in for the killing blow. Afraid that this would be the end of Renamon and their partnership. Those fears proved unfounded however as Renamon kicked her fiery opponent off of her. Takato had to resist the urge to cheer, lest he grab Lynxmon's attention and make his partner's job harder by making her have to worry about his safety instead of just focusing purely on the fight at hand.

Lynxmon landed on its feet as cats were so famed for doing. Renamon was back in a battle ready position, muscles tense.

"Howling Buster!" Lynxmon called. Red flames erupted from its mouth. Renamon jumped into the air to dodge the attack, her powerful leg muscles carrying her several feet into the air. She then crossed her arms over her chest and a white energy began to gather. Takato smiled knowing exactly what was going to happen next.

"Diamond Storm!" Renamon called as she moved her arms back into more normal positions and unleashing several dozen razor sharp white leaves at Lynxmon. The attack made contact and shredded Lynxmon into millions of tiny bits of data that Renamon absorbed.

The digital field immediately dissipated bringing with it the return of the storm. Renamon land next to Takato who smiled at her and spoke, "Good job Renamon, let's go home. I'll sneak you some bread as a reward for a job well done."

"Thank you Takato, that sounds nice." Renamon replied. With that said the pair departed the scene of the battle and made their way back to the Matsuki bakery.

* * *

Henry Wong sighed in relief as his partner finally stopped struggling to get to the door of his room. This same thing happened every time a new Digimon appeared in the real world. His Digimon partner, if one could call their strained relationship a partnership wanted to fight any and every Digimon that came from the other side. Henry, a staunch pacifist for reasons that still stung to remember couldn't disagree more, he felt that Digimon were coming to Earth for something that they couldn't get in the Digital World, not just a new venue to fight in.

"Are you happy now, the Digimon is gone, I missed another fight, someone else has probably downloaded its data and gotten stringer while I was stuck here fighting with you." Henry let his partner, Impmon go and glared at the purple Digimon.

"I'd be happier if I didn't have to fight you every time a new Digimon appeared." Henry said.

"You wouldn't have to fight me if you would just let me fight." Impmon met Henry's gray glare unflinchingly with a green one of his own.

"You know how I feel about fighting Impmon, that may have been your life in the Digital World but I won't have it here. As long as you're my partner you're going to play by my rules. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah, I understand, I understand that you're a wimp! Why did I have to end up with such a wuss as a partner? Maybe I'll just go find one who actually has enough spine to fight." Impmon threatened. Henry felt his blood starting to boil, his Digimon could always do that to him.

Henry to slow deep breaths to reign himself in before speaking again, "You and I both know that's an empty threat Impmon, if you were going to leave you would have done it already. Whether you like my philosophy or not, you obviously feel some attachment to me and won't leave. So just let it go, I'm not going to kill living creatures just because you want to."

"Henry, I'm a Digimon, fighting is what I _do_." Impmon's voice while still angry now had a more pleading tone. The half Chinese Tamer took note of the fact that his partner hadn't disputed the accusation that he wouldn't leave and tried not to feel too smug about that.

"Not anymore, we've been over this a thousand times Impmon. I'm not killing Digimon, which means no fighting other Digimon. You're just going to have to deal with that. Now go back to sleep. Impmon grumbled but complied with the order from his Tamer.

Henry sighed in relief and turned the light back off. Impmon could be so frustrating, some days Henry sincerely wished he'd picked something a little easier to handle in that fateful video game. Like, say a Terriermon or something. At the very least he's probably have less migraines with a Terriermon as his partner.

Henry glanced over at the snoring purple form of his Digimon. "_I'm sorry Impmon but not fighting is for your own good. If you fight you might Digivolve and if you Digivolve you might lose control again and I can't let that happen again."_ Memories of a Devimon rampaging through the game sent a shiver down his spine. Seeing _that_ once had been more than enough for Henry.

* * *

Rika woke with a start from the strange dream she'd just had. She'd dreamed of Digimon fighting, a Lynxmon and a Renamon. There had been a boy there too, with a Digivice like hers, only his had been red instead of blue. It was possible that the whole thing was just a dream, that after what had happened yesterday her mind was still reeling and she'd had that dream as a result, but Rika doubted that was the case.

It all just felt too _real_ somehow. Too real to just be a dream, too detailed, and to top off the strangeness her hair was wet. It had rained in her dream last night, this whole thing was getting just a bit too weird for Rika's taste. Not that she had a particularly high tolerance for weird stuff. Shoving the oddities from her mind Rika got ready for the day.

Almost as an afterthought Rika put her Digivice in her schoolbag. She didn't want to miss Guilmon's hatching if she could help it after all. School itself was a boring affair as usual. She checked on Guilmon's egg whenever she could, but it hadn't hatched yet. So Rika headed home still waiting for the big moment to arrive.

It finally did shortly after she got home. Her Digivice beeped so she checked it to find that the egg had hatched but Guilmon was nowhere to be seen. She frantically pressed the buttons on the Digivice, trying to find some way to locate her Digimon. Finally she found what appeared to be a compass.

"_So it's going to be a hunt is it?_ _Fine by me." _She thought. Rika was thankful that she'd at least had time to change out of her school uniform before this happened, her street clothes were much easier. Rika moved like lightning strapping on her card holder and putting her deck inside as well as grabbing her violet hued sunglasses. If that strangely realistic dream she'd had last night was any indication she'd need them.

She'd need the sunglasses in order to see in the strange fog that came with a Digimon, and the cards to fight off any other Tamers that would show up and attempt to defeat Guilmon and load his data. The Digimon Queen wasn't about to go into a possible battle situation unprepared. With only the quickest possible word to her grandmother so she wouldn't get in trouble Rika took off running, Guilmon was waiting for her.

* * *

Henry absentmindedly tapped away on his keyboard. His homework wasn't all that difficult, requiring only the barest amount of concentration. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched his little sister Suzie playing with Impmon and smiled. Suzie, like everyone else, thought that Impmon was a stuffed animal so he couldn't protest to the treatment the little girl was giving him.

Impmon detested the things Suzie put him through, but knew better than to speak up, that would cause more questions and headaches that he and Henry wanted to deal with. Truth be told Henry was quite glad for his sister's strange fascination with his impish Digimon partner. When Suzie was around Impmon couldn't get into trouble because he had to keep up the masquerade.

"Henry, look at the pretty light." His sister's childish voice caught his attention and he looked out the window to see a rather large digital field forming. He looked back toward Impmon who obviously wanted to go fight whatever new Digimon had appeared.

Henry gave his partner a look as if to reinforce the conclusion to the argument they'd had last night. They weren't going to be fighting any Digimon. Something in Impmon's eyes gave Henry pause, there was something more there then just the usual eagerness to fight something. There was confusion, and was that _concern_? Okay now Henry _had_ to know what was going on.

"Suzie, could you step out for a minute, I need some quiet. Leave Impmon here please." He said.

"Okay Henry." She said but she clearly wasn't happy about it. Once he was sure she was out of earshot he spoke, "We're not fighting it Impmon. You know that, but I'm curious as to why this new Digimon seems to have you so spooked."

"There's something different about this one, Henry." Impmon said.

"Different how?" The Tamer asked.

"I'm not really sure, I'm just getting a weird feeling from this one okay?" Henry paused for a moment.

"This isn't just you trying to trick me so you can go pick a fight is it?" Impmon scoffed at him.

"Henry, I am insulted that you think I would sink to such low tactics just to get into a fight. Do you really think I would lie to you?"

"Yes actually, I do. Still on the off chance this isn't you just trying to pick a fight this may be worth checking out."

"Gee thanks for that show of faith in me. A Tamer that doesn't even trust his own Digimon, I'll tell ya, I got a real gem here I did. By the way if you don't do something about your sister and her Princess Pretty-pants treatment I swear one day I'm going to snap and Bada Boom her." It was clear that Impmon _wasn't_ joking. Henry glared at his unruly Digimon.

"If you so much as try that and you really will be looking for a new Tamer," Like Impmon there was no humor in his tone when he said that, "Now let's go see that Digimon that has you so freaked out."

* * *

Rika was starting to wonder if Guilmon was worth it now. She'd had to go quite a distance with nothing but her Digivice's compass to guide her and she was fast approaching a construction site. In order to find her Digimon she now had to crawl through a grimy tunnel. She wasn't afraid of getting a little dirty or anything but this was making a mess of her favorite shirt.

Rika cursed softly as she put her hand down and felt something furry under it. The agitated squeak of a rat told her what it was, It and several of its friends went scurrying down the tunnel ahead of her. "You hand better be worth it Guilmon." She muttered.

As she came to the end of the tunnel she saw a fog bank like the one from her dream the night before and put on her sunglasses so that she'd be able to see better. She cold see a silhouette that seemed to be about the right size and shape for Guilmon as she'd designed him. Now upright again she piked up speed, running toward the shape.

The moment of truth was here. Had the game become real for Rika Nonaka the Digimon Queen? As she finally got close enough to make out the details of whatever was at the center of this fog she smiled. As expected the red and black dinosaur named Guilmon was there, just as she'd designed him.

Rika approached Guilmon slowly, not wanting to startle her Digimon. For his part he seemed to have taken an interest in the rats around the construction site, sniffing them. This caused Guilmon to sneeze and unleash his Pyro Sphere attack, melting a perfectly circular hole in a concrete wall, no doubt killing some of the rats in the process.

Rika was rather impressed with the power that Guilmon held. With his power and her skill she had no doubt that they would be an unbeatable team. "Guilmon." She called softly as she approached. Guilmon turned toward her and she finally got a good look at his front. Was that a Hazard sign on his chest? That wasn't in her design, oh well, if she knew her Digimon lore and she did, that would only make him more powerful if she could figure out how to harness it.

Suddenly Guilmon's pupils shrunk and he let out a guttural growl. He started to turn toward whatever had set him off but that question was answered when a Renamon kicked him in the face. Guilmon went flying to the other side of the construction site but got up seemingly unharmed.

"You should really get away from that thing, it's dangerous." A voice said. A voice that sounded vaguely familiar to Rika, she turned to find its source and her eyes widened in shock.

"_You!"_ She breathed. It was that boy from her dream. What was _he _doing here? How was he even real? No, that didn't matter right now. They'd attacked Guilmon and they'd have to pay for it.

"Do I know you?" The boy asked in confusion. Rika didn't bother to answer that question, she just pulled out her Digivice and opened her card holder.

"You're about to see how dangerous my partner can be, Guilmon attack!"

"Whoa, it's your partner, sorry this is all a big misunderstand-" He was cut off by Guilmon attacking Renamon with Pyro Sphere. Renamon was able to dodge it, barely. Rika saw the fox Digimon's expression harden.

"Who is this guy?" She asked, staring at Guilmon. Rika caught the Renamon's Tamer looking at this Digivice.

"No data? How can there be no data on this guy? That doesn't make any sense!"

"Of course there's no data on Guilmon," Rika said with a smirk, "He's one of a kind, I created him."

* * *

Takato stared at the girl in front of him. Trying desperately to process what she had just said. She _created_ her Digimon? Who did she think she was, the Digimon Emperor? "Look," he pleaded, "This is all a big misunderstanding. We thought that your partner was a wild Digimon. We thought you were in danger. Now that we know he's yours we don't want to fight."

"Well that's too bad because I do what to fight, it's what Digimon are for after all." The girl said with no hint remorse. Takato turned his attention back to the battle. Renamon was trying to keep her distance from the other Digimon, this Guilmon and was only narrowly avoiding his attacks. Takato didn't know what to do at this point.

"Diamond Storm!" Renamon called the attack while still retreating. It hit its mark but Guilmon came barreling out of the smoke seemingly unharmed. Just what was thing made of, Chrome Digizoid? Renamon jumped obviously hoping to land on top of a crane and get the high ground.

The girl that was Guilmon's Tamer pulled out a Digimon card. What exactly was she planning to do with that? "Digi-Modify: Hyper wing activate!" He heard her say as she swiped the card through her Digivice. Out of nowhere the red dinosaur Digimon spout white energy wings and flew after Takato's partner, catching her in mid-jump. The pair of Digimon crashed to the ground throwing up plumes of dust.

The two rolled around for a bit but eventually Guilmon had Renamon pinned down, though the strange wings had disappeared. The other Tamer looked like she was ready to gloat of her her victory. Takato panicked and threw a loose brick at Guilmon. It just shattered harmlessly against his head.

He watched in helpless horror as the energy for another fireball collected in the back of Guilmon's throat. He was going to lose Renamon if he didn't do _something_, but there was nothing he could do. Takato squeezed his eyes shut as tight as he could, trying to block out the reality of losing his partner.

"Renamon!" He screamed until his lungs burned. A new bright light stung his eyes and a mechanical voice spoke.

"Digivolution."

"Renamon Digivolve to... Youkomon!" Takato opened his eyes to see that Renamon had transformed. In her place now stood a purple quadruped fox, with red flames covering its and the tips of its nine tails.

"Renamon, you Digivolved!" He said excitedly. The other Tamer laughed at him.

"Yeah, she Digivolved but the form she took only proves how weak of a Tamer you are. A well-trained Renamon would Digivolve into Kyuubimon, not Youkomon. Oh well, maybe now she'll at least put up a decent fight."

Takato glared at the girl, not at all appreciative of how he was being mocked. "Let's show her how wrong she is Youkomon!" His newly evolved Digimon nodded.

"Fireball!" Youkomon called. The flames on her tails blended together and shot a fireball at her opponent.

"Pyro Sphere!" Guilmon countered with his own attack. The two attacks met halfway between the Digimon and exploded. The smoke cleared quickly to show that neither Digimon had been harmed in the clash. Takato saw his fellow Tamer pull out another card and got the sinking feeling that even with Renamon Digivolving into Youkomon they weren't going to defeat this opponent and they wouldn't be able to escape either.

"Bada Boom!" A new voice entered the fray and a small red fireball impacted the ground between the two Digimon combatants. All eyes turned in the direction it had come from and found a gray eyed boy and a purple Digimon standing there.

Takato pulled out his Digivice and scanned the new Digimon. "Impmon, Virus attribute. A Mini Devil type Digimon. We've already seen his Bada Boom attack."

"What are you guys fighting about anyway?" The boy, who Takato guessed was this Impmon's Tamer asked.

"I thought her Digimon was wild and was going to hurt her. We didn't realize she was it's Tamer. It was all a misunderstanding and instead of accepting our apology they've been trying to kill Youkomon." Takato explained. The gray eyed boy looked at the girl obviously trying to get her side of the story.

"What do you expect, fighting is what Digimon are made for." She said with a shrug.

"It's true that on the net Digimon only exist to fight, but it shouldn't have to be that way here." The boy replied.

"I don't care about your philosophizing, just stay out of my way!" The violet eyed girl growled back.

"I don't like to fight but if you're going to try and kill someone else's Digimon then I have no choice." The blue haired boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a green Digivice and cards. The girl looked at the boy and his Impmon then at Takato and Youkomon, obviously weighing her chances of taking on both of them at once.

"Fine, you win this time, but you haven't seen the last of us, come on Guilmon." With that said she drug her Digimon away and departed for parts unknown. Once the coast was clear Takato approached the boy who had saved his partner.

"I'm Takato Matsuki, thanks for bailing me out of that one, I owe you." He said extending a hand.

"Henry Wong, and don't mention it. We can talk more once we're out of this place." Henry said.

"Yeah, good idea." Takato agreed.


	2. Chapter 2: Speak of the Devil

**A Twist of Fate**

I don't own Digimon, I'm just sort of playing around with it.

**Chapter 2: Speak of the Devil**

Takato idly stroked Youkomon's head as he listened to Henry talk. The three of them and Henry's partner Impmon had decided to gather their thoughts in a concrete shelter in the nearby Shinjuku Central Park. Takato had suggested it because not a lot of people came to this particular area. As it turned out Henry also lived in this area and even went to the same school as Takato, just in a different class.

Henry for his part seem oddly perturbed. He was pacing furiously in the little shelter and giving off an aura that reminded Takato of a pot that was only stopped from boiling over because it had a lid on it. Impmon didn't seem all that surprised but was keeping a safe distance from his Tamer.

"What is wrong with that girl? How could someone be some willing to murder another person's Digimon partner like that? This isn't a game, these are living breathing creatures." Henry growled.

"I know that and you know that, but she might not know that, at least not yet," Takato played devil's advocate despite the fact that he had more reason to be angry at the girl than Henry did. It was _his_ partner that she'd tried to kill after all, "For most people Digimon _is_ a game. Her partner just crossed over from the Digital World. She probably hasn't realized yet that the consequences of her actions are all too real."

"And how many Digimon is she going to kill before she figures that out? Murder is still murder whether she realizes it or not." Henry said.

"Relax, I agree with you, but what exactly are we going to do about it? If we try to stop her, well she's willing to kill other peoples' partners. Are you willing to kill hers if it comes to that?" Takato asked.

"No," Henry snapped, "The last thing we should do is try to fight her, that would make us no better than she is. We need to reason with her and get her to see the error of her ways. Digimon don't exist only to fight. They came here to the Real World to find something they couldn't get in the digital one."

"I came here to get stronger," Youkomon joined the conversation for the first time and all eyes turned to the purple fox Digimon, "Digimon in the Digital World have stagnated. We've found ourselves for some unknown reason unable to reach the next level. Unable to Digivolve and so those of us that can make the trip come to the Real World hoping to find what is missing. So we try to find a worthy human partner to tame us in the hopes that their skill will help us reach the next stage."

"That's what I keep telling him Foxface, but does he listen to me? No, I had to end up with a spineless Tamer who keeps trying to tell me I don't need to fight when that's what Digimon do." Impmon said. Youkomon glared at him, clearly unhappy about being referred to as "Foxface".

"Shut up!" Henry snapped at his partner, "I refuse to take part in the murder of another sentient being. Violence is not the answer to our problems."

"What about all those wild Digimon that are crossing over? What do we do about them? We can't just let them wander the streets Henry. It would cause a panic. People would attack them and the Digimon would defend themselves. Do you know what kind of damage that would cause? I don't like killing Digimon either, but we have to think about all the people in this city, in this world, who can't defend themselves from wild Digimon. Killing the Digimon may be the only way to keep the peace and it lets our partners get stronger like they want."

"Why can't we just find them a Tamer Takato? After all it worked for our Digimon." Henry said. Takato had to admit Henry had a point on that one, finding the Digimon Tamers to look after them would be far more ideal than deleting them, but at the same time he couldn't agree completely with the other boy's argument.

"It's not that simple. The last Digimon Youkomon and I fought before that girl's... Guilmon I think it was, was a Lynxmon, Say I wanted to find that Lynxmon a partner instead of deleting it. Who am I going to find to take in a flaming wild cat? Where would they keep it? Where would I keep it until I found it a partner? If it were something like Impmon you could pull it off but for most Digimon it just wouldn't work."

"I know it won't be easy but it's a better way to do things. It's what we should try to do, otherwise we're on a slippery slope where one day we'll be willing to kill people's partners like that girl was, sure we'll say it was because they were dangerous, but anything can be justified." Henry retorted.

"You can decide to not kill Digimon if you want, but I have to do what I feel is right. Although I have to ask what you're going to do if that girl finds you and tries to delete and load your partner?" Takato asked.

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I'll try to talk her out of it."

"And if that doesn't work?" Takato asked. Henry pinched his nose in frustration.

"I don't know Takato, I just don't know. Look, I need to go home. Come on Impmon." Henry said before he started to walk away. Impmon didn't move to follow his Tamer immediately, instead turning toward Youkomon.

"So do I get a kiss for saving you from being deleted by that dino Foxface?" He asked with a wink.

"_No!_" Takato snapped. He felt his cheeks heat and regretted speaking the word. Yes he didn't want anyone else kissing his Digimon, but he didn't want people to know that and his knee-jerk reaction would be suspicious. Besides in the end it was Youkomon's choice not his.

For her part Youkomon just turned away from Impmon. "Your Tamer is waiting for you. No self-respecting Digimon would keep their partner waiting." Takato felt his heat leap upon hearing Youkomon reject Impmon.

"Alright, I get when I'm not wanted, still I hope to see you around. It was nice to be around another Digimon for a change, especially one as pretty as you." With that said Impmon followed Henry and Takato watched the pair depart.

Once the two were out of sight Takato leaned against the well of the shelter and sighed. Then he removed his goggles and wiped his brow on his sleeve. It had become quite sweaty with all the excitement from the fight. This had been a long and stressful day.

"What's wrong Takato?" Youkomon asked. Takato turned toward his partner and gave her a weak smile.

"I'm alright, I'm just tired. I found two other Tamers and one wants to kill every Digimon she comes across and the other refuses to fight even to protect his own partner. I was hoping we would be able to find some friends and allies to help fight the wild Digimon. Instead I've found an enemy and someone who, while not an enemy, doesn't seem to like me very much."

"We have each other, we're partners. We'll figure out how to handle whatever comes our way." She assured him. Takato just sighed again.

"Am I a good partner Youkomon?" His partner gave him a confused look.

"Of course you are Takato. What brought this on?"

"It's just you came to me to get stronger. I've been wondering how effective I've been at helping you achieve that goal for a while now. Then there was what that girl said when we were fighting, about how a well-trained Renamon would Digivolve into Kyuubimon and not Youkomon like you did. I guess my confidence is just a little shaken."

"I see," Youkomon said with an almost motherly wisdom, "Takato it's true I came to you to become stronger and we have achieved that goal. After all, you were able to make me Digivolve."

"Yeah but into Youkomon and not Kyuubimon like you should have."

"A Digimon's evolutionary path has many branches. Who gets to decide which one is better?"

"I suppose you're right," Takato said putting his goggles back on, "Hey can you still do that shimmer trick to hide yourself?"

"Yes I can."

"Good, then let's go home Youkomon."

* * *

Rika was surprised how little trouble she had getting Guilmon back to her house. You'd think a red dinosaur would at least warrant _some_ attention, but then again this was Japan and people in _very_ realistic cosplay was far from unheard of. The real problem was making sure that Guilmon kept moving in the right direction. It was almost like her Digimon had ADHD. Rika could understand why of course, he was in a new and strange place, but that didn't stop her from getting a bit frustrated.

"_I should've made Guilmon a little smaller."_ She thought as she drug her Digimon into the garden like yard of her home. Guilmon was heavy, and Rika's arm felt like it was going to fall off from dragging him this far. She stopped short of the door to her room puffing like she'd run a marathon.

It took her a few minutes to catch her breath, a task made no easier by having to keep hold of a struggling Guilmon. After a few more minutes of work she managed to open the siding door into her house and lead Guilmon to her room. Once that was done Rika finally let go of her Digimon partner and breathed a sigh of relief because she no longer had to exert herself.

Unfortunately for her Guilmon was still feeling a bit rambunctious and began to wander around her room and began knocking things off the table, most notably her collection of Digimon cards, at least the ones she didn't keep in her deck holster went crashing to the floor and just making a mess off the place. Another victim of Guilmon was a desk lamp that thankfully didn't break when it hit the ground.

"Guilmon you can't just go charging around and knocking things over. My mom or grandma will hear and come to see what's going on and I can't let them see you. Who knows how they'd react when they saw I'd brought a dinosaur home. My mom would probably have a heart attack and start panicking and ranting about how unladylike having a fire-breathing Digimon as a pet is and they to make me get rid of you."

Guilmon just stared at her blankly. "I Guilmon?" He said gesturing to himself with a claw. Rika sighed, it appeared they'd have to start with the basics.

"That's right, you're Guilmon, and I'm your Tamer, Rika."

"Rikamon." Guilmon said slowly pronouncing each syllable as if it were a word on its own.

"I'm not a Digimon, I'm a human being. My name is Rika Nonaka and I am your Tamer. Do you understand what I'm saying Guilmon?" The blank look on her Digimon's face told Rika everything she needed to know. As far as Guilmon was concerned she might as well be speaking Greek.

"_Why me?"_ Rika thought as she started to clean up the mess that Guilmon had made. The other two Digimon she'd seen had been intelligent like in the show, well, if you could call choosing those two idiots as Tamers intelligent. Guilmon though, Guilmon was like a baby, or more accurately an untrained puppy. Rika just didn't know how to deal with this sort of thing.

She was beginning to think that wishing to be a Tamer was sort of like a monkey's paw. She got what she wished for but it was far from how she'd pictured it. She'd had a fantasy of what being a Tamer would be like and reality had just had a laugh at her expense. Well it wouldn't have the last laugh, she'd train Guilmon and mold him into her perfect partner.

"Rika is that you? Do you have a friend over, I thought I heard voices." Rika could hear her grandmother coming to check in on her. She had to hide Guilmon _now_. Quickly she threw the closet door open and began to push her Digimon partner toward it. Unfortunately it didn't seem like Guilmon wanted to move at the moment as he'd just gone limp and become a lump of dead weight.

Why? Why did this stuff have to happen to her? She just _had_ to get the most uncooperative Digimon in the history of the universe. "Get in the closet Guilmon!" She hissed. Thankfully she was able to force Guilmon into the closet and mostly shut the door before her grandmother came in the room.

"Is everything alright Rika? I heard strange voices and some crashing noises."

"Yeah grandma, I was just getting something out of the closet and made a bit of a mess, I'll finish cleaning it up I promise." Rika said. She had to lean back heard against the closet to keep Guilmon from escaping.

"Oh, that's too bad I was kind of hoping you'd brought a friend over. I worry about you you know."

"I'm fine Grandma."

"Hi." Guilmon said from within the closet.

"What was that?" Rika's grandmother asked.

"It was my stomach, I'm really hungry." Rika said a bit too quickly. The lie sounded weak, even to her but thankfully it seemed like her grandmother bought it.

"Well you're in luck, I'm about to start dinner." Once she was gone Rika breathed a sigh of relief and finished closing the closet. She just couldn't deal with more Guilmon right now. It didn't take long for dinner to be ready. Thankfully her mother and grandmother let her eat in her room so she could feed Guilmon without too many questions.

That is until she had to take a fourth helping. It seemed, rather unfortunately that the TV show had not exaggerated about a Digimon's appetite, so in order to feed herself and Guilmon she'd had to take a lot of food much to the shock of the adults in the house as Rika had never been a big eater. She had to smirk a bit when she overheard her mother's reaction to how much food she had taken.

"If she keeps eating like that Rika's going to become _fat_," She said in horror as if being overweight was a heinous crime. Then again for a model like her it was, "I just don't understand that girl is this some new kind of rebellion?"

"_Maybe having Guilmon around won't be such a headache after all. Maybe it'll actually get Mom to stop trying to make me into a model."_

With dinner eaten it was time to go to sleep. So Rika readied her bedroll for the night before remembering that she now had Guilmon to consider. Just where was he going to sleep? Rika cursed herself for her lack of foresight about these things.

"Get back in the closet Guilmon, it's time to go to sleep," Rika said, trying her best to sound authoritative, she did a rather good job of it if she were one to judge. Guilmon whimpered like he'd just been hit, "What is it, what's wrong?"

"It's dark and scary in there, I want to stay out here with you Rikamon." Rika groaned, both at being called Rikamon again and at how strangely her Digimon was behaving. Guilmon wasn't afraid to charge into battle, but he was afraid of the dark? That was certainly a new one as far as she knew.

"Fine Guilmon, but you have to be quiet, I don't want my mom or grandma to get suspicious about strange noises and pop in on us."

"I'll be quiet Rikamon, I promise." Guilmon said with his approximation of a nod.

"I told you, my name is Rika, not Rikamon!" The Digimon Queen had to resist the urge to bang her head against the wall. She just wasn't made to deal with this kind of thing, "You know what, never mind, it doesn't matter right now. Let's just get some sleep and we can work on your vocabulary tomorrow."

With that said Rika got ready for bed and laid on her futon with Guilmon curling up beside and slightly on top of her. Once he stopped moving Guilmon crashed, Rika however wasn't so lucky. Guilmon snored like a buzzsaw so it was impossible for her to get any real sleep. So she just laid there in the dark beginning to wonder if wishing for Guilmon was a good idea after all.

That is until Guilmon's eyes snapped open and he ran to the door and began growling. Rika wasn't sure what was going on so she approached her Digimon slowly. "What's wrong Guilmon, do you have to pee or something?"

"I smell a Digimon." Guilmon growled. She was surprised that he could recognize the scent of another Digimon and discern it was different from that of a human already. She figured it must be some sort of instinctual thing. A sort of inborn danger sense.

"A Digimon, just give me a minute to get dressed." Rika hurriedly changed into her normal street clothes, put on a card holding belt, slipped her Digimon deck in the pocket and clipped her Digivice to her jeans, "Lead the way Guilmon." She said while grabbing her violet sunglasses.

Guilmon was fast, faster than she had originally thought. So much so that the Digimon Queen had trouble keeping up with her Digimon. She wasn't sure how far they walked or ow long it took them but eventually they did come upon one of those odd fog banks. Rika put on her sunglasses and followed after Guilmon as he entered.

When the fog opened up enough that a silhouette was visible Rika pulled out her Digivice so she could see what Guilmon could see. She'd seen that gogleheaded boy with the Renamon do this when they fought and knew it activated a Digimon Analyzer. What she saw was a green humanoid Digimon in brown clothes, sporting and orange mohawk and carrying a club.

"Goblimon," she read out loud, "Rookie level, Virus type. Well _this_ won't be much of a change for us. Walk all over him Guilmon." Guilmon needed no more encouragement and began to just pound on the Goblimon with everything he had. To the little green guy's credit he kept getting up no matter how hard Guilmon knocked him down.

Then something odd happened. Goblimon began to change shape and when all was said and done he looked like a red Ogremon in tiger print shorts. Rika knew who this Digimmon was, this was a Fugamon.

"He Digivolved, but he shouldn't be able to." Only a Tamer's Digimon should be able to Digivolve on the spot like that. At least that's what the TV show had always told her. Fugamon swung his club and cracked Guilmon across the face with it, sending the red dinosaur flying.

Guilmon got up shakily, clearly dazed from the impact of the hit. It seemed that this Digimon was a far more formidable opponent than the boy's Renamon. Rika knew she'd have to help Guilmon here if they wanted to have any chance and winning. She quickly searched through her cards and found the perfect one for this situation.

"Digi-Modify: Hyper Chip activate!" Guilmon glowed with golden energy as his power increased. It seemed he'd shaken off the damage he'd taken pretty well, but then again, Rika had designed him as such.

"Pyro Sphere!" Guilmon called as he let loose with a boosted fireball. The attack hit its mark enveloping Fugamon and destroying him. Millions of little red bits of data began floating around the area, what Rika presumed to be Fugamon's remains. Guilmon stepped forward and began to take the data into himself, the bits turning from red to blue as he did so.

At first Rika was confused by this turn of events, but she quickly figured it out. Digimon lived by classic Darwinism. Survival of the fittest, it was a dog eat dog world, or Digimon eat Digimon in this case. Digimon were data. When they fought like this the winner would absorb the loser's data and become stronger. In other words to the victor goes the spoils.

The Digimon Queen smirked as all that pacifistic crap she'd heard from the blue hared boy with the Impmon was so soundly disproved with this one action. As she'd thought, this was just what Digimon _did_, so much so that the instincts came naturally to even a newborn like Guilmon. Now that their work was done the Tamer and her Digimon headed back home so they could get some decent sleep.

* * *

Henry sighed as he watched Impmon's muscles tense, it was easy to see, even from the back. That meant a new Digimon had appeared, but much to Henry's surprise his partner didn't move. "Not going to bolt for the door this time?" He asked.

"What's the point," Impmon retorted, "You're not going to let me do anything so why waste the energy?"

"Will you look at that, someone is _finally_ learning how things work around here." Henry made no effort to keep the satisfaction out of his voice. Impmon growled and turned toward his Tamer.

"What's your problem anyway, why won't you let me fight? Takato and Foxface _destroyed_ your arguments and all you did was run off in a huff. There is something seriously wrong with you Henry, you can't admit when you're wrong even when some hit you over the head with the truth. Digimon are meant to fight and that's all there is to it."

"That's the thing, I'm _not _wrong Impmon. Takato is just doing things wrong. What am I to you?" Henry asked, he knew how his Digimon would answer and he would use that to drive home his point.

"You're my Tamer." Impmon said. Henry smirked, everything was going just as he had hoped.

"That's right I'm your Tamer, and do you know what tame means? To tame something or to domesticate it to use a slightly forward term, means to make it less wild and dangerous so it can live with humans safely. I'm your Tamer, that means it's my job to domesticate you. Wild Digimon charge around and destroy things. A Digimon with a Tamer should not fight because to tame means to domesticate and domesticated animals are pets, not warriors. By choosing to have a Tamer you basically said you didn't want to fight anymore Impmon."

"I'm not a dog Henry! It's real nice that you know how to use a dictionary and all, but what about Youkomon? She blows a huge hole in your argument. She wanted a Tamer too, but she wanted one so she could become stronger and Digivolve. Did you ever think that maybe taming a Digimon is different than taming an animal? We have minds of our own, hopes and dreams. You can't just impose your will on me."

"Yes I can, that's what being a Tamer means, if Takato wants to completely miss the point of it then that's his business, but you're not fighting!"

"Why won't you let me fight? What are you so afraid of? I bet you're afraid you'll lose, that you can't hang with the big boys, is that it?" Impmon snapped. Henry froze, so it had come to this. Impmon was going to push the fear button and try to goad him. Well alright then, he would give his Digimon the honest and brutal answer, whether he liked it or not.

"No, I'm afraid I'll _win_. Don't you remember how we became partners?"

"Of course I do, I was in that game fighting Gorillamon, I Digivolved into Devimon and beat the tar out of him. Them you begged me to stop and he got away. I turned back into Impmon and the next day Gorillamon came back for revenge and I was no match. The next thing I knew, I was with you."

"Seeing you hurt like that... hurting other Digimon like that, I just can't bear to do it again. Plus, when you were Devimon you were so vicious, so wild..." Impmon's eyes widened.

"You're afraid that if I fight, I'll Digivolve again, and that if I Digivolve you won't be able to control me," Henry nodded, "But like you said, you're my Tamer, it's your job to make me controllable. If you can't do that then that just means your a bad Tamer. All you're doing right now is stunting my growth so that I'll be easier for you to handle." Henry didn't say a word in reply to that because deep down he was afraid that Impmon was right.

* * *

Takato scanned the street around him looking for the reason he was here. Renamon, who had quickly reverted to her Rookie state, had told him that a Digimon had crossed over into this world, only the two of them had arrived and there was no Digimon in sight. "I don't understand Renamon, you've never been wrong before, where's the Digimon?" Takato asked.

The yellow fox appeared out of thin air with a worried expression on her face. "It's not here anymore. The Digimon is gone Takato." She said.

"Gone, you mean it's loose in the city, or did it go back to the Digital World?" Renamon shook her head.

"If it had just left this area, I could still track it. As for it going back to the Digital World, I'm not even sure that's possible. No, I can only think of one explanation and that is that this Digimon was deleted." Takato's eyes widened he knew what _that_ meant. He only knew of two other Tamers in the city, Henry and that girl with the created Digimon Guilmon. Henry wouldn't do something like this, so that only left the girl on the list of possible suspects for who had deleted this Digimon.

"That's not good, if that girl is fighting Digimon then it means Guilmon is absorbing data. Which means he's getting stronger. You barely made it out of that last fight alive. If Henry and Impmon hadn't shown up..." Takato didn't dare take that train of thought to its inevitable conclusion. If he did he'd have nightmares for months.

"So what do you propose we do," Renamon asked, "They already know we exist and will no doubt want to conclude the battle we had at some point in the future."

"I know and the longer we wait, the more data they can collect. Now that I know I can use Digimon cards with my Digivice to give you new powers we may be able to match them card for card, but when it comes to pure strength we're still out-muscled unless you Digivolve into Youkomon." Takato said.

"Perhaps the cards are the answer. With the right combination we may be able to turn the battle in our favor." Renamon suggested. Takato shook his head.

"It's no good, she has cards too and there's no telling how good she is with them until it's too late. On top of that we don't know a thing about Guilmon because that girl created him, and she can pull up all the information she needs on you from her Digivice. We're fighting totally blind here, and we can't even ask Henry for help because he just won't fight," The brown haired boy sighed in defeat, "Still I don't see what choice we have. We're going to have to fight them eventually so we might as well do it now while we still have some chance to win. We need to hunt them down and take out Guilmon before it's too late."

"That's a risky plan. Are you sure that it's wise to go seek a fight with Guilmon and his Tamer?" Renamon asked.

"No, in fact I'm pretty sure challenging them is a bad idea. It's just that it's the best hope we have. Fighting them on our terms is better than fighting on theirs."

"I understand, your logic is sound and I have faith in you Takato." Renamon said.

"Let's hope that faith isn't misplaced. Well, there's no point in saying around here, let's go home."

At school the next day Takato was still lost in thought about his problem of having to deal with the girl and her Guilmon. It was hard to pay attention to school when you had a matter of life and death on your hands. During a lull in the day his friends Kazu and Kenta sat next him and began chatting about the only thing they ever talked about: Digimon, not that Takato was paying much attention.

"Hello, Earth to Takato, come in chumley," Kazu's voice snapped Takato out of his stupor and he jumped slightly as a result, "What is up with you today, it's like your mind is on another planet."

"Oh, I'm sorry guys, it's just that some crazy stuff has been happening to me lately. I have a big problem I need to deal with. So what were you saying?" He had to be vague about this because not even Kazu and Kenta knew about Renamon. Who knows what they'd try to do if they knew Digimon were real, and he wasn't about to put his best friends in undue peril.

"I was just saying that I feel like I'm a natural to win the tournament this year." Kazu said. He was obviously referring to the annual Digimon Grand Prix card tournament, which served as Japan's national championship for the game.

"Well, you'll have to beat me to do it!" Takato said boldly. Despite now taking part in real Digimon battles Takato still played the card game, just to remind himself that Digimon could still be fun.

"The only shot you'll ever have at beating me Takato, is if you finally ditch the cruddy Renamon deck you use. I never understood what you saw in such a girly Digimon anyway." Kazu said.

"You take that back right now Kazu," Takato shouted as he stood up and slammed his hands against his desk, "My Renamon deck could bet you and win the tournament any day of the week and you know it!" Takato let Kazu get away with a lot of things, but insulting Renamon, even in card form wasn't one of them.

"Please, you two wouldn't last two minutes against top players." Kenta interjected. With the tension broken Takato sat back down.

"Listen chumley, a _girl _won it last year, so it can't be that hard." Kazu countered.

"That was no ordinary girl. That was the Digimon Queen. She's only ever lost one match and that was to the legendary Ryo Akiyama, yeah she won the championship last year because he mysteriously disappeared but she was able to give even him a good run for his money. I'm sorry Kazu, but you're just nowhere near as good as Ryo." Kenta said.

"I see your point." Kazu said in defeat. A thought occurred to Takato, a girl who was _really_ good at Digimon... No, he couldn't be _that _unlucky, could he?

"This girl, what did she look like?" He asked, fearing that he already knew the answer.

"Why do you want to know, are you looking for a girlfriend Takato?" Kazu teased.

"No, nothing like that, I just think I might've run into her is all." Takato said.

"Well she had violet eyes, and was kind of pale. She had sort of brownish-red hair in a ponytail that looked like the top of a pineapple. Her name was Rika Nonaka, I think." Kenta said. Takato suddenly felt sick to his stomach, his worst fears had been realized. He'd made an enemy of the Digimon Queen.

"Why me?" He asked the universe as he banged his head against his desk, he repeated the words and action as a sort of mantra for about a minute.

"Are you okay Takato, you look kind of green." Kenta said.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine, I just have the worst luck in the universe!" Takato's sarcasm was not lost on his friends.

"Dude, seriously, you don't look good, maybe you should go to the infirmary."

"I'm fine, just feeling _ really_ stupid right now." Takato left it at that, there was no way he could come up with a convincing cover story that wouldn't embarrass him thoroughly. As he was walking home after school Renamon spoke to him mentally, one of the many bizarre powers he possessed.

"_I sense a Digimon in that parking garage, it's Guilmon."_ She said.

"_So she's found us already. Well that's just great, we're about to go pick a fight with the Digimon Queen. There's no point in trying to hide, if you can sense Guilmon then he can sense you too. They're probably in the garage because Rika doesn't want the fight to be public. Let's not put this of any longer shall we Renamon? It's do or die time, and I'm afraid it will probably be die time."_ He replied.

"_Have faith Takato,"_ Renamon chided, _"As at team we are far more powerful than you give us credit for."_ Takato just nodded in response and made his way toward the parking garage. It wasn't hard to find Rika, she was on one of the upper levels, just standing there nonchalantly with Guilmon. Renamon fazed back into view next to Takato and the two pairs just stared at each other for a moment.

"I'm surprised you had the guts to actually come in here after last time." Rika said.

"You probably would've just chased me down anyway so I didn't see much point in running. So what do you say we just get this over with Rika?" Takato smirked as he saw her eyes widen at the mention of her name. Good, he wanted to set her off balance, maybe it would throw her off her game so to speak.

"How do you know my name?" She snapped.

"I have my sources." Takato was doing his best to be enigmatic, the more time Rika spent puzzling over how it was he knew her name the better it was for him and Renamon.

"Well I guess I'll just have to beat the truth out of you, and while I'm at it I'll make you spill your guts about why you showed up in my dreams!" Now it was Takato's turn to be put off balance by something that was said. Judging by Rika's expression she hadn't even meant to say it.

"Dreams? What are you talking about?" Takato asked with a faint blush. Surely she couldn't be talking about _that_ kind of dream. He only had eyes for Renamon anyway, not that he was about to tell Rika that.

"Don't act like you don't know, _someone_ had to cause that weird dream and you and your Digimon were the ones in it who could've done it. Whatever, I'll get my answers after Guilmon finishes taking you little fox's data," She then turn toward her partner, "Walk all over her Guilmon."

"Pyro Sphere!" Guilmon didn't waste any time and spat a fireball at Renamon who dodged it gracefully, though the attack ended up colliding with a car, which then exploded. Takato had the sinking feeling that this fight was going to cause _a lot_ of collateral damage. Guilmon and Renamon had begun a game of cat and mouse around the garage.

"Time to go on the offensive," Takato said pulling out his Digivice and cards, "Digi-Modify: Power activate!"

"Diamond Storm!" Renamon called as she fired her attack right at the red dinosaur who was chasing her. The attack hit its mark and Guilmon cried out in pain.

"Bulls-eye baby!" Takato cheered at his triumph.

"So, someone leaned how to use Modify cards how cute," Rika said in a mock congratulatory tone, "Too bad it won't do you any good." At first he was confused by what she meant but as the smoke cleared from Renamon's attack Takato was shocked to find that Guilmon was nowhere to be seen.

"Pyro Sphere!" The call for this attack came from behind Renamon and as it was completely unexpected the fireball hit Renamon squarely in the back and sent her flying several feet before she skidded to a stop on the floor between Takato and Rika.

"What just happened?" Takato asked.

"That would be the Alias! card, it creates a copy of Guilmon to take your attack at the cost of a little energy," Rika said with a smirk, "When it comes to Digimon games I never leave home without it." Takato growled a bit in frustration as Renamon got up off of the floor. Perhaps they really _had_ bitten off more than they could chew here. Of course what else had he expected when his opponent was the Digimon Queen? There was no way Rika was going to let them get away this time, so unless some sort of miracle happened he was going to lose Renamon here... Suddenly the door to the part of the garage they were in swung open.

* * *

"What's going on in here?" Henry asked as he surveyed a parking garage that looked like a tornado had hit it. Of course that question was entirely rhetorical. He knew _exactly_ what was going on in here. Takato and that girl had gotten into another Digimon battle.

"Henry," Takato seemed rather elated to see him and Impmon, "what are you doing here?"

"Against my better judgment I can to see what all the explosions were about. Though I had a pretty good idea, and it turned out to be right. People are going to notice this and call the police, do you guys really want to deal with that? Why are you even fighting her Takato?" Henry asked.

"I'm fighting because you wouldn't. She was going to come after us sooner or later I had to do something before Guilmon absorbed too much data and became unbeatable."

"Well your plan didn't work now did it," Rika asked, "As for the police well, I'll just have to finish off both your Digimon and leave before they get here won't I?" Henry was already sick of this girl, just who did she think she was?

"I don't want to fight you," Henry said, "In fact none of us should be fighting. Let's just all go home." The girl rolled her eyes.

"Not that again. I already told you, Digimon are made to fight and I'll prove it right here. Guilmon attack Impmon!" The red dinosaur charged right at Henry and his partner with what appeared to be great relish, only to be stopped when Renamon kicked him in the head and sent Guilmon sprawling to the floor.

"Henry this is your chance to get out of here, take Impmon and go!" Takato said, but Henry shook his head. This girl had shown that she didn't care what he said and that she was willing to attack him. Maybe in this one case Takato was right and they needed to fight.

"No Takato, everyone keeps telling me how Digimon are meant to fight, so fine, I'll fight, just this once," He snapped. Maybe once this girl was dealt with he could finally live in peace away from all the fighting and wild Digimon.

"Henry you don't understand. She's Rika Nonaka, the Digimon Queen. Even together I'm not sure we could beat her." The goggleheaded boy protested.

"I don't care who she is Takato, all I know is that our Digimon won't be safe until she gets taken down, as much as I hate to admit that. That's all I need to know so I'm going to fight by your side. Are you ready Impmon?"

"Are you kidding, I was born ready Henry," Impmon said as he and his Tamer entered the garage, "So what do I get for coming to your rescue _twice_ Foxface?"

"Still nothing." Renamon replied as she stood back up, clearly injured.

"Sheesh, you'd think your Tamer would've at least taught you manners. Can't you at least say think you," The two Digimon flanked Guilmon who still looked as though he'd been untouched, "Bada Boom!" Impmon threw a small fireball at Guilmon who jumped backward to dodge it.

"Diamond Storm!" Renamon called, attacking their enemy from behind. Then something happened that neither Henry nor Takato expected, thought they probably should have.

"Digi-Modify: Hyper Speed activate!" Rika called as she slashed a card through her Digivice. The next thing Henry knew Guilmon was behind Takato and Impmon was right in the path of Renamon's attack.

"Impmon get out of the way!" Renamon shouted, her eyes widening in shock and fear. However anyone could see it was too late. There was no possible way for Impmon ti dodge this.

"Impmon!" Henry dashed for his partner as fast as he could, time seemed to slow as his Digivice lit up...

"Digivolution." It chimed.

"_No!"_ Henry breathed as he blood turned to ice. This had to be a nightmare, this couldn't be happening.

"Impmon Digivolve to... Devimon!"

* * *

Rika looked on as Renamon's Diamond Storm attack hit Devimon full on and did absolutely nothing. Unfortunately for Renamon that now meant that she had Devimon's full attention and he flew at her pinning her against a wall. Fallen Angel types like Devimon were said to be exceedingly powerful for there level, perhaps she'd finally found an opponent worthy of her skill.

"_Still, is _every _Digimon I fight going to Digivolve?"_ She thought sourly. That was something to worry about later, right now she had more important things to worry about.

"Guilmon!" She snapped, pointing over at Devimon. Her partner seemed to under stand her meaning as he charged over and leaped off of a car toward Devimon.

"Rock Breaker!" Guilmon called as he brought his hand down hard on Devimon's head, causing him to drop Renamon.

"Thanks for the help Rika." Takato said.

"I didn't do it for you, I only saved your stupid little fox because I didn't want Devimon to absorb her data and get even stronger." She said with a scowl.

"Whatever, right now let's just focus on dealing with Devimon." Takato said with a sigh.

"Like I need _your_ help." Rika replied.

"Yes, yes! I'm finally free! Free to fight and destroy!" Devimon shouted as he cackled evilly, Death Hand!" Devimon unleashed black energy from his hands blasting both Renamon and Guilmon backwards.

"Henry you've go to control him!" Takato screamed at the blue haired boy, but Henry's mind had clearly taken a lunch break.

"Digi-Modify: Power activate!" Rika called. This was obviously a fight that was going to take some extra muscle.

"Pyro Sphere!" Guilmon called, though the attack was larger than normal due to the effect of Rika's Modify card.

"Diamond Storm!" Renamon added her razor sharp leaves to the attack on Devimon. The two attacks hit their mark and pushed Devimon back, but he shielded his body with his wings, so when the smoke cleared Devimon emerged more ore less unscathed.

"Well that didn't work." Said Takato, who had gone over to try and snap Henry out of his stupor.

"What was your first clue genius?" Rika snarked. Though truth be told, now that she'd seen how strong Devimon's defenses were she knew what she had to do.

"Death Hand!" Devimon called. Once again he blasted Renamon and Guilmon. At this point both Digimon were looking worse for wear.

"This isn't good, Henry you have to do something or I'll lose Renamon," Henry remained in his catatonic state, "If only I could get Renamon to Digivolve into Youkomon again." Takato mused.

"Please we don't need that thing to stop Devimon. We just need the right attack, now watch and see how a pro does things gogglehead," With supreme confidence Rika pulled the perfect card for this situation out of her holster, "Digi-Modify: Angemon's Hand of Faith activate!"

Guilmon stood back up and snarled at Devimon and then extended his right arm, "Hand of Faith!" He called. The white beam of holy energy lanced out at Devimon, hitting him square in the chest. Between Guilmon's raw natural power, the boost he'd gotten from Rika's Power card, and the enhanced effectiveness of this particular attack on evil Digimon Devimon was laid out flat and screaming in agony.

Hearing his Digimon in pain seemed to bring Henry back to reality as he rushed over to Devimon and supported him on his shoulder. "You want to know why I don't fight Takato? _This _is why, so things like Devimon don't happen. So from now on don't expect me to come save you okay? I'll be taking my partner and going."

"Excuse me but I'm not about to let you go anywhere. I'm taking Devimon's data right here and now." Rika declared. Just as Guilmon began to move in to finish the job Renamon appeared in front of him, arms spread as if to draw a line in the sand.

"You'll have to go through us first Rika." Takato said.

"Don't tempt me," Rika warned, but truth be told she wasn't sure if she could back up that bravado, Guilmon had been damaged pretty badly by Devimon and now that Takato knew how to use Modify cards that could complicate and prolong the battle. Plus there was always the chance that Renamon could Digivolve into Youkomon again... "Fine you can go. You idiots are lucky, I've let you go twice. Just hope for your sake we never meet again. After all, you know what they say: The third time's the charm."


	3. Chapter 3: Gorilla Warfare

**A Twist of Fate**

I don't own Digimon, I'm just sort of playing around with it.

**Chapter 3: Gorilla Warfare**

Mitsuo Yamaki stared at the data in front of him like someone would stare at the disconnected pieces of a jigsaw puzzle as they tried to visualize how they fit together. In truth that wasn't too far off. As the director of Hypnos it was his job to find a way to combat the threat of Digimon and stop them from crossing over into this plane of existence.

The fact that he had thus far failed to do so as it was galled him, but now he had a new problem to face. In the last few days something had changed. Digimon weren't just crossing over anymore, once they got here their data was _changing_, _growing. _Yamaki could only postulate that the beasts were getting stronger somehow. It had happened three times in the last two days and he needed to figure out why, or an already dangerous infestation could quickly escalate into a deadly one.

The first step of course, was to look for some common element, something that might have caused the Digimon to change. So in front of him were the records of all the data gathered about the Digimon who had bio-emerged in the last two days as well as all the data spikes, one of which didn't correspond with a bio-emergence.

He was lucky that he'd realized that there was a problem so quickly. It meant that it would be much easier to narrow down the list of suspects than it would be if this had been going on for months. Lesser men wouldn't have caught it so soon, of course Yamaki saw most everyone as lesser to him. He was a genius and the only one who truly understood how dangerous these creatures could be. So naturally it fell to him to fix the problem, lest the idiots who hired him try to take matters into their own hands and make things worse with their sheer incompetence.

So he worked, doing his best to keep all of humanity safe, both from Digimon and from themselves. He poured over the network of the last seventy-two hours, analyzing each individual peace of code as if he were a police officer interrogating a criminal. The answer came suddenly. Well, not the answer exactly, but two possible answers at least.

In the last three days four Digimon had bio-emerged into the real world. The area in and around these emergence points was heavily monitored by Hypnos, as was any other Digimon activity in Japan. Two of the data spikes corresponded with bio-emergence zones. One did not. Looking over the signatures of Digimon in the bio-emergence areas and those near the data spikes it wasn't hard to find some common elements.

Only two Digimon had been at all the data spikes. One of those two had to be what was causing the data spikes, it was the only explanation Yamaki could see. One of them had produced some anomalous readings when it had crossed over. Yamaki remembered having Riley merely put a tracer on that one and letting it go as he'd wanted to study it more.

Yamaki flicked his lighter open and closed several times in order to reign in his frustration. If he had been indirectly responsible for the data spikes his superiors would have his had. At best they'd send some government adviser who would get under foot and make Yamaki's job harder because the idiot would have no idea what he was doing. At worst they'd just dispense of him all together, he'd be out of a job and Hypnos would be being run by someone who wasn't half as smart as him.

Still, he had to take that possibility into account. There was still one other Digimon that could possibly be causing these data spikes as well. They'd have to track it. "Riley, come over her for a moment." Yamaki didn't look away from his papers as his chief assistant and live in girlfriend walked up to him.

"What do you need Yamaki?" She asked.

"I want you to track the signature of this Wild One and relay it's position relative to future data spikes." He instructed.

"We'll get on that right away sir." Riley said.

"Good. I knew I could count on you Riley." Yamaki smirked to himself, he _would _find the origin of these data spikes and destroy it. He alone could make sure that Digimon could never pose a real threat to mankind's survival.

* * *

Rika growled in frustration as the tip of her red colored pencil broke off and a blob of color wrecked the drawing she'd been working on. She'd be the first to admit that she was no artist, but this was important. It had to be perfect. Without a word she ripped the paper out of her notebook, crumpled it up and threw it toward the trashcan where it bounced off the rim and on to the floor. How many drafts had she gone through now, twenty? She just wasn't having much in the way of inspiration with this current project.

"What are you doing Rikamon?" Guilmon asked. He'd been remarkably quiet until now, true he was sniffing and investigating everything in the room, but he wasn't doing anything that might cause trouble for her, so Rika wasn't really bothered by his antics.

"I keep telling you Guilmon, my name is Rika, _not_ Rikamon." She said with a sigh as she put her colored pencil in the pencil sharpener and began cranking it so she could get back to work. In truth Rika really couldn't get that annoyed at Guilmon. He was just too cute, like a newborn puppy, a newborn puppy that could breathe fire; that made him amazing. Rika normally _hated_ cute, but Guilmon was hers, she'd created him. There was a bond there that she couldn't explain.

Maybe this was how parents felt about their children. _"Well most parents."_ The bitterness of the thought had ceased to surprise her long ago. Her father had abandoned her, how was she supposed to feel? It didn't matter, she'd be a better parent to Guilmon than her father was to her, and her flighty mother for that matter.

"Anyway, I'm trying to create your Champion form so you can Digivolve." She said. So far every Digimon they'd battled had Digivolved and while she and Guilmon had handled everything they'd come across so far there was always that chance that they could run into something too strong for them as they were now.

It had almost come to that point already. Her hand trembled as she recalled their encounter with Devimon the day before. He'd been so powerful, a massive upgrade from puny little Impmon. He'd been able to land some good hits on Guilmon. True, she'd been able to turn the tide with her Modify cards, but she was Rika Nonaka, the Digimon Queen; she knew better than anyone that sometimes Modify cards just weren't enough to get the job done. Sometimes you have to Digivolve.

Deep down she knew that if she'd not been on her game in that battle that she could've lost Guilmon for good. Deep down she knew this wasn't just a game anymore. This was something else, this was nature. Survival of the fittest and you had to take every advantage you could get.

Guilmon's eyes lit up at her words. "You mean I'd get bigger like Impmon and Renamon?" He said, he looked like he was about ready to do a happy dance. To be honest Rika was surprised that he understood what Digivolving was without her having to explain it. Maybe it was a Digimon thing, they could all do it, it was a natural part of their lifespan. Maybe they were all just born with an instinctual understanding of the process. Not that it really mattered to her, she was just happy she didn't have to bother explaining it to Guilmon who generally had the understanding of a toddler.

"Maybe not bigger," Rika said thinking of the change from MetalGreymon to WarGreymon immediately, "but yes like that. At least if I can figure out what your Champion level will look like."

"Yay, I get to be bigger!" Now Guilmon really _was_ doing a happy dance and as he flailed about in ecstasy several items around the room crashed to the floor. Rika was afraid that the noise would attract her grandmother's attention and that was the last thing she needed right now. With Guilmon being this unruly she wasn't sure she could get him into the closet quick enough to not be caught should her grandma decide to come see what was going on.

"Guilmon will you cut that out, all you're going to do is get us into trouble!" Rika snapped in a harsh whisper, shouting would only draw more attention; she also put on her best scowl for added effect. Guilmon shrank back, his ears drooping. He looked like he'd been stung by a swarm of bees.

"I'm sorry Rikamon." Guilmon followed his apology with a pitiable whimper that only made Rika's earlier mental comparison to a puppy more apt. Rika sighed and her expression softened. Even she couldn't stay mad after seeing something like that.

"_How did a fire breathing dinosaur end up so adorable?"_ She wondered. That wasn't important right now though, right now she needed to lift Guilmon's spirits.

"It's alright Guilmon, I'm just... scared." She said softly, yesterday's events had driven some realities home and gotten her really thinking about others more than she had before.

"Scared?" Guilmon tilted his head in confusion.

"Yes Guilmon, I'm scared. If people find out about you then they'll take you away from me and do who knows what to you. I'd never see you again..." Rika choked up despite herself, tears falling from her eyes. It had only been a few days, when had she gotten this attached to Guilmon, he was just data after all. No, what was she thinking? He was her creation, as much a part of her as her arm. She'd poured her soul into him, of course she was attached.

"Rikamon, are you okay?" Your eyes are leaking." The dinosaur Digimon said with genuine innocent concern. Rika chuckled slightly and wiped her violet eyes.

"I'm fine Guilmon." That may or may not have been a lie, she honestly wasn't sure at this point. "You do want to stay with me right?"

"Why wouldn't I want to stay with you Rikamon?" Guilmon's innocent reply lifted her spirits, she wasn't even annoyed at being called Rikamon.

"Then you're going to have to do what I say and be quiet okay?"

"Okay." Guilmon replied without a second thought.

With that conversation over a still sniffling Rika turned her attention to the blank notebook paper in front of her. She needed to get back to designing Guilmon's Champion form. The way she she figured it since she designed Guilmon he wouldn't be able to Digivolve until she designed his more advanced forms. Unfortunately she was still drawing a blank.

She looked over at Guilmon and a thought occurred to her. He was alive and real now, shouldn't _he_ have a say in the design of his Champion form? After all he was the one who was going to have to Digivolve into it.

"Hey Guilmon, when you Digivolve what do you want to look like?" She asked.

"I want to be bigger!" Guilmon's enthusiasm was radiating off of him like a sun. Bigger. Of course, what had she expected really? Thankfully just being bigger wouldn't be a problem at least. Even a horrible artist Rika could handle a basic up scaling.

"Anything else?" She asked.

"I want hair!" Guilmon declared. Another simple request. Adding a mane to the drawing shouldn't be too difficult. A design began to form in her head. It was very minimalistic in its approach Just a bigger Guilmon with some cosmetic differences, but that suited her just fine.

"Alright, there's one other thing: It needs a name." Guilmon seemed to think about this for a moment.

"Growlmon." He declared finally. Rika sighed. _Growlmon_, really? It definitely wasn't a name she would've picked, it sounded so childish. Of course she'd asked Guilmon what the name should be, what exactly had she been expecting? He'd only been alive for three days.

"Fine, Growlmon it is." She said.

* * *

Takato barely resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall when he returned home. He did however chuck his goggles across the room. How had things gone so bad? He'd thought having a Digimon would be fun, for a time it had been, but reality had given him a nice hard smack to the face in the last few days.

Honestly he was beginning to wish he'd never met Henry and Rika, they'd caused him nothing but headaches. Rika was far too kill happy when it came to Digimon, still simply seeing it as a game and Henry had a barely suppressed dark side that made even Rika look tame. He'd seen that reflected in Henry's partner Impmon when he Digivolved into Devimon.

That wasn't the real issue though and Takato knew it. The drama he could handle. The problem was that they just made him feel so _impotent_. He'd been at this whole Tamer thing for a while now and he'd missed some really obvious stuff, like the use of Modify cards. Takato was coming face to face with a sad truth: He wasn't a very good Tamer.

Rika and Henry had shown up out of nowhere and were already better than him. Even more than that their sudden appearance made Takato less _special_. Before he'd met them he'd thought he was the only kid in the world with his own Digimon. That he was chosen for some grand reason he couldn't hope to understand. With Henry and Rika on the scene he had to question why he was chosen at all.

He wasn't as skilled as they were, not by a long shot. His Digimon didn't seem nearly as powerful. Why was he given Renamon in the first place, he just didn't seem worthy to have his own Digimon. Takato was jerked out of his musings when he felt Renamon's hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her trying not to show the surge of affection that flowed through him at the contact.

"Are you alright Takato?" She asked. Sometimes Takato wished he could hide his emotions a little better so Renamon couldn't read him like an open book, this was one of those times. For a moment he said and did nothing, trying to figure out how to best voice his concerns. Finally he shook his head.

"I guess being a Digimon Tamer hasn't been much like I thought it would be is all. When I watched the anime I got these dreams of a grand adventure in another world. Yeah it would be hard sometimes, but it would make sense. In the show there was always a goal, an enemy to defeat. What's happening now is so... complicated."

"Real life isn't like a TV show Takato, I know this is a hard lesson to learn, but you must learn it quickly. Digimon are very far from the fantasy you've conjured up for yourself. Before I met you I spent a lot of time wandering the Digital World and in that time I learned a very important truth. There are very few Digimon who are objectively good or evil. Most of us were simply looking out for our own interests, trying to survive and live a happy life, from what I've sen humans operate in much the same way." Renamon said sagely.

Takato nodded slowly. "I know you're probably right Renamon. I just, I thought that with a Digimon that I could do something amazing, save the world, help people. Instead I find myself fighting what amounts to wild animals and sneaking out of my house at night. I wanted a purpose and this is what I got."

"You _are _protecting people. If those wild Digimon aren't taken care of they can do immense damage to your world. That much your TV show got right. It may not be as grand as you had hoped, but you do have a purpose. I'm glad I'm your partner Takato, you gave me a purpose beyond just gaining strength and surviving."

"Thanks Renamon, I needed that, but I think we need to pick our battles a little better." He said.

"What do you mean?" The fox Digimon quirked an eyebrow in confusion.

"I think we may need to change our strategy, with Rika at least. We can't beat her and Guilmon without some sort of miracle. That much is obvious, even if we get stronger by defeating more wild Digimon they'll be doing the same. I'll never be able to match the Digimon Queen in skill with the cards, and if Guilmon ever Digivolves..." Takato shivered at the mere thought of Guilmon's more advanced forms.

Renamon nodded, she was a warrior first and foremost, Takato knew she would understand the logic of not fighting hopeless battles. "What do you suggest?"

"We have to make a deal with her. We can't beat her alone, and Henry doesn't want to get involved, and after today I'm not so sue getting his help would be a good idea anyway, but we can't have Rika going and attacking other people's partners, Henry and Rika are out there so who knows how many others there are that she could attack. The only option I can see is a live and let live approach. As long as they don't attack people's partners we leave Rika and Guilmon alone. She can fight as many wild Digimon as she likes, which makes our job easier and makes the city safer."

"Do you think she'll go along with it? She doesn't seem like the most diplomatic person." Renamon noted.

Takato closed his eyes and sighed. "And that's the rub. She knows she can beat us, she has all the cards stacked in her favor, no pun intended. Rika has no reason to negotiate. The bottom line is that we don't have a choice, not really. Sooner or later Rika and Guilmon will go after the same wild Digimon as us. Unless we can convince them to make the deal it's game over for us. For good."

* * *

Henry was going to explode, there was no way around it, that much he knew. It had taken most of the night for Devimon to regress back to Impmon and as far as Henry was concerned he'd held on his tirade long enough. After all, chewing out Impmon was one thing, chewing out Devimon was another matter entirely and frankly bordered on suicide.

Now though, now it was just Impmon. He could handle Impmon. Henry was beginning to see that even the freedom he gave his Digimon partner might just be too much for him to handle. "I hope you're proud of yourself. You nearly got killed by Rika and Guilmon because you couldn't control yourself. You attacked Renamon so even Takato turned against us. He might've been our friend if this hadn't happened."

"You're the one who told me to fight. I'm sorry you didn't like the results." Impmon's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"I told you to fight, not Digivolve and go berserk. That's on you." Henry said.

"I can't control that. I was under attack it was like a reflex. Yeah I know Foxface didn't _mean_ to attack me, but it happened. It's a natural defense mechanism." His Digimon retorted.

Henry sighed in exasperation. He hated when Impmon brought up good points, it just made his job harder. In this case though it really didn't change the crux of the argument all that much. "Fine, I can't blame you for Digivolving under the circumstances. What I _can_ blame you for is your actions as Devimon. You went on a rampage and nearly killed both Guilmon and Renamon. I will not tolerate such behavior."

"I'll admit I got a bit carried away. The power went to my head. It's only the second time I've ever Digivolved to the Champion level, I got caught up in the rush of it. Of course if I was allowed to fight more often I'd have more opportunities to Digivolve and learn how to control myself in that form."

"There you go again try to blame your lack of control on me. I'm not responsible for your actions. If you listened to me and just gave up on fighting we wouldn't be getting into these situations. You need to learn some self-control."

"Why?" Impmon asked simply. The question only added fuel to Henry's flaming temper.

"What do you mean why, I've told you why. You are dangerous and out of control when you fight. That's why we don't." That wasn't entirely true, there were other reasons Henry did his best to avoid violence, but Impmon didn't need to know that.

"Why do I have to control myself. Controlling me is your job. You're my Tamer, maybe you should get off your lazy butt and _tame_ me. All you want me to do is sit around your house pretending to be a stuffed animal and be Suzie's personal dress-up doll. I'm forced to go through things I hate so you don't have to answer the uncomfortable questions your family would ask if they knew I was alive. You haven't really given me any good reason to follow your orders and deny every instinct in my body screaming at me to fight."

"Why should you do what I tell you to? That's simple, I'm your Tamer. You said it yourself, and that means I'm in charge." Henry said.

"What exactly am I getting out of our little arrangement, I've seen lawn gnomes that are leading more fulfilling lives than me. For that matter what are _you_ getting out of this? I don't see how your life has improved from having me around. I'm beginning to think we'd both be better off if you just chucked me out on the street and we act like this whole Tamer and Digimon thing never happened."

Henry sadly had to admit that Impmon was right. Neither of them was actually gaining anything from their partnership other than frequent headaches. For a moment he was silent, he just looked at his Digimon partner contemplating the words he'd spoken. When Henry finally did speak his words came out in a cold whisper. "You're my responsibility. I could let you go, but that would do more harm than good. I have to keep an eye on you."

"So you think you're my jailer? I only want to do what Digimon do. You're trying to force your way of thinking on me. If I wanted to leave you couldn't stop me and I have to say I've been pretty tempted from time to time." Impmon replied.

"Then why haven't you left?" Henry asked.

"I think there might still be hope for this partnership, if I can get you to accept me for what I am, for what all Digimon are. I came here to a reason: to get stronger. A Tamer can help me get stronger faster than I can on my own, but you have to help me. You have to realize that I'm not your pet."

Again Henry was silent for a moment before speaking. Impmon still didn't understand that fighting was dangerous to both himself and others, that it didn't solve anything. "Impmon, what I do I do for your own good, you have to trust me on that. Now let's go home.

"Yeah, whatever, but I'm telling you something needs to change, and soon."

* * *

Kazu Shioda looked at the cards in his hands. Mostly junk he'd gotten from trades, packs he'd bought with his allowance, and victories, still most of it could be mildly useful. All except for this one card: Training Grips. It was meant to strengthen weaker Digimon like exercise did for people, but why bother with it when there were far better power up cards in the game or you could just make them Digivolve?

So without a word he took the card out of the pile and handed it to Takato, who happened to be one of his best friends. Takato had an odd taste in things as it was, especially when it came to Digimon, so he might actually find some use for it. He was after all _obsessed _with Renamon, Renamon out of all the Digimon in the franchise Takato had chosen a yellow fox as his favorite. Kazu didn't think he'd ever understand that one; what self-respecting boy would have such a girly Digimon as their favorite? Much less openly admit to it like Takato did?

Takato's eyes scanned the card and then he looked up at Kazu with a blank expression. "What's this?" He asked. That was to be expected really Kazu was markedly better at the card game than his goggle wearing friend, so he naturally understood the cards more.

"It's like resistance training, it's meant to toughen up your Rookies. I don't have any use for it so I figured I'd give it to you." Kazu explained. Takato's eyes widened and he broke out in a big smile.

"Wow Kazu, thanks! You have no idea how much this helps me!" Takato then did something no one was expecting and hugged Kazu. It was a tight hug and Kazu being a typical boy of his age found this incredibly awkward.

Kazu pushed Takato off of him, actually a little harder than he'd intended to, but given the situation he wasn't sure he cared about that at the moment, even when Takato let out a small groan as he was pushed away. "Dude I gave you a worthless Digimon card. You don't need to make it all weird and get emotional on me over it. We're lucky only Kenta saw that, can you imagine the rumors that would start at school if one of the girls saw that? I don't think either of us want to deal with that chumley." He said, again Kazu was a bit rougher than he'd intended to be with his friend, but Takato was just acting weird, he had been for a while now.

Takato hung his head. "You're right, sorry Kazu. Listen I've got to go, thanks for the card." He slung his backpack over his shoulder and started to walk away.

"Hey wait a minute Takato, you promised you were going to play Digimon with us today and now you're leaving. Why do you keep dong this to us, did we do something wrong?" That was their other friend Kenta Kitagawa. Kazu had to admit that the blue haired boy had a point, Takato had made a habit of breaking his promises to them as of late and he wanted answers.

For his part Takato did look rather pained at the words of their friend as he stopped walking and turned back to face them. "No, it's nothing that you guys did. I just remembered that I have something important I need to do is all. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"You always say that, what is it that you have to do anyway? What's so important that you can barely spend time with your friends anymore? That is, if we even are still friends, or is it that you just don't trust us to keep your secrets." Kazu snapped.

"It's not like that. Of course you're still my friends, and of course I still trust you. It's just I can't tell you what I have to do, even if I did you probably wouldn't believe me. Trust me when I say me not telling you is for your own good."

"How are we supposed to trust you when you're keeping secrets from us Takato?" Kenta asked.

"Kenta's got a point chumley, spill, if you want us to trust you, you need to show some trust in us." Kazu agreed.

"I'd love to sit around and argue with you two all day, really I would, but I have more important things to do." With that said Takato began to walk more.

"What's gotten into you Takato? You act like this is a matter of life and death or something." Kenta said.

"It may very well be." Takato said quietly, not even pausing in his walk. Those ominous words were the last thing he said before departing from sight. For a moment all was quiet as neither of the remaining boys could quite comprehend what had just happened. Finally Kazu broke the silence.

"Kenta old buddy, is it just me or has Takato gone nuttier than a fruit bat?" The question was rhetorical of course, they both knew the answer was yes.

"It's not like him to hide things from us, I wonder what's gotten into him." Kenta said.

"I don't know chumley, but I intend to find out!" Kazu declared.

"How are you going to do that if he won't tell us?" Kenta asked.

"We're going to follow him of course."

"Won't Takato get mad at us if we follow him. I mean whatever is going on he wants to keep it a secret and he seemed pretty serious about it." Kenta adjusted his glasses as he spoke, Kazu had known him long enough that it was a nervous habit his friend had picked up.

"If anything we should be mad at _him_ Kenta, he's been treating us like dirt for months, always ditching us, saying something more important came up. Well I think it's high time we found out what's really going on."

"I suppose you're right." Kenta said with a sigh. It was clear he wasn't comfortable with following Takato, but he'd always been a bit of a push over and Kazu could be quite persuasive when he wanted to be. Tracking Takato wasn't hard. They knew him and the park very well, so they knew what route he would take to the leave and just went in that direction.

When they found him, he hadn't actually left the park yet, but was just standing in an area with no one else around. Kazu pulled Kenta behind a tree so they could spy on him with less chance of being discovered.

"What's he waiting for?" Kazu wondered aloud in a whisper, "Does he have a secret girlfriend or something?" Kenta didn't answer he knew he wasn't expected to. What happened next took them both completely off guard. A bipedal yellow fox shimmered into existence in front of Takato, one both Kazu and Kenta recognized instantly.

"That's Renamon!" Kenta said. For a moment Kazu was silent. After all his entire view on reality had just been shattered, it was understandable that he would be a little dumbfounded.

"He's got a Digimon. Takato's got a Digimon..." Kazu sank to his knees as what he was seeing hit him like a brick. "That's what he's been hiding from us." Just as quickly as it came the shock vanished and he grabbed Kenta by the hand and drug him out from behind the tree that served as their hiding place.

Takato and Renamon turned toward them, seemingly sensing their approach. "What are you guys doing here?" Takato asked with heat in his tone.

"You have a Digimon, why didn't you tell us, I mean we can keep a secret Takato." Kenta said.

"More importantly, where can we get one." Kazu demanded.

"Digimon are not simply things you can go somewhere and get. We are living thinking beings with minds of our own. We must choose you just as much as you choose us. To become a Digimon's Tamer they must find you worthy. Though you didn't know it I have been with Takato for some time. From what I've seen you'd be lucky if a pair of Numemon found you worthy to be their partners." Renamon said dismissively.

"We're worthy, well at least I am, I'm not so sure about Kenta." Kazu said.

"Hey! I'd make a better Tamer than you." Kenta interjected. Kazu ignored him and plowed on.

"You know if you ever want to see what a real Tamer can do, you can always ditch Takato and become my Digimon partner. Normally I'd want something a little cooler as my partner, but I'm feeling generous."

"That's enough!" Takato snapped, "I didn't tell you two about Renamon because I knew you'd act just like this. You may think this is a game but it's not. It's dangerous. You may think that watching the show makes you ready for what it's like to be a Tamer, that you can handle the stress of battle. It doesn't. This isn't a card game for me anymore. These are life and death struggles. Wild Digimon could tear this city apart, every battle we go into I have to worry about losing Renamon. So before you go off looking for a Digimon partner, you need to do some serious thinking about whether you can handle the responsibility."

"Take it easy Takato, we were just joking." Kenta said shakily.

"I wasn't. I used to be like you two. I thought having a Digimon partner would be fun. I'll admit, it does have its upsides, but I went into this not expecting to have to protect a city from monsters, but here I am. You two are my best friends. I don't want you to get hurt. Think about it for a bit and if you guys still want Digimon partners then I'll do my best to help you find some, but I want you to understand what it is you'd be getting into first."

Kazu swallowed hard, for the second time in five minutes he was dumbstruck. Takato was about the nicest guy anyone could ever meet. In all the time he'd known him Kazu had _never_ heard Takato talk like that. It truly emphasized how serious the situation was. If it hadn't been his best friend saying those words Kazu was pretty sure he would've needed a new pair of pants. "We understand Takato." Kenta just nodded numbly in agreement.

"Good." Takato said simply. Suddenly Renamon tensed.

"Takato, a new Digimon is crossing over." She said.

"Sorry guys, but I have to go, duty calls." Takato said. "Oh and Kazu, thanks again for the card, it's really going to help us out in the long run." With that said Tamer and Digimon departed, leaving Kazu and Kenta to think about what had just happened and how their entire worldview had been shattered in an instant.

* * *

Henry wasn't sure why he took Impmon around everywhere he went. Other than to keep him out of trouble anyway. He even took him to school with him, getting Impmon into his backpack was a daily battle, but he managed somehow. Probably because Impmon didn't want to be left alone all day with Suzie, and leaving him with her without supervision ranked rather highly on Henry's list of bad ideas. He just knew that one day his Digimon was going to snap and attack his sister if he didn't keep an eye on him.

At any rate Impmon was with him now as he walked home from school. He felt his Digimon partner shift and tense in the bag before popping his head out. "Henry a Digimon is crossing over it's close." To be honest Henry had figured that out from Impmon's movements in the bag. They'd been at this long enough that he knew how to get comfortable in there, so there could be no other reason for the squirming.

"Do you really think I'm going to let you fight after what happened yesterday?" Henry said with barely restrained menace in his voice. He felt Impmon slump against his back. Perhaps their little conversation about the Devimon incident had gotten through to him.

"No, not really, it's pretty close though so I thought you should know." Impmon replied.

"Well I'm going to do my best to avoid it." Henry said. He just kept walking his normal route home, but unfortunately the Digital Field happened to be in the middle of a street he usually crossed. The Tamer gave the fog bank that accompanied a Digimon crossing over a wide berth. He knew alternate routes home after all. Still it was a bit of an inconvenience, he was already in trouble with his parents for being out so late last night while he waiting for Devimon to revert back to Impmon so he'd chosen the fastest route home to keep them happy.

A few minutes later Impmon spoke up again. "Uh Henry, I think that Digital Field is following us home." Henry almost berated his partner for trying to come up with a stupid excuse so he could fight, but the tremble in Impmon's voice gave him pause. His partner sounded puzzled, if not outright frightened by this turn of events. Impmon was many things, but a good actor was not one of them.

Fearing what he would find, but knowing he had to look Henry peered behind him. What he saw made his heart race with panic. The Digital Field was indeed following them. "They're not supposed to be able to do that. How is it doing that. More to the point, _why_ is it doing that?" his pace picked up considerably as it seemed the field was gaining on them and he had a sinking feeling that he wouldn't like what he saw if it caught them.

"Does it really matter right now?" That thing is after us!" Impmon protested. "Can I at least fight now? I'd only be defending myself." Henry glared at his Digimon.

"No, I'm not letting you fight." Henry said as he tried everything he could to get the Digital Field off of his tail. He ran as fast as he could and took as many twists and turns as he could manage, but in the end he just couldn't shake it and they were subsumed into the fog bank.

As the fog surrounded them gradually a silhouette appeared in the center of it. As the shape came into focus Henry gasped. He knew this Digimon. He didn't know how but he knew it was the same one. "Gorillamon" he breathed.

The white furred digital ape turned toward them and his eyes locked on Impmon. He pointed his canon arm at them and fired. "Energy Cannon!" Henry, being a martial artist was barely able to dodge the attack, though Impmon nearly fell out of his backpack.

"Be careful Henry, I'm still back here you know." His Digimon said.

"I'm a bit busy trying to stay alive." He shot back before turning his attention to Gorillamon. "Gorillamon, you remember me right? We played the game together, but this isn't the game anymore, we don't have to fight. Please, just go back to the other side." That seemed to be the wrong thing to say as Gorillamon roared and fired again.

"Energy Cannon!" Henry did his best to dodge the continuing attacks, but a wrong step caused him to lose his balance and tumble to the ground. Impmon flew out of his backpack and skidded to a halt on the concrete groaning as he stood up. Gorillamon now focused his attacks on his fellow Digimon. It seemed that Impmon was always the target and Henry had simply been in the way.

Impmon too had trouble dodging the energy blast and was struck a glancing blow that sent him back to the ground. "Okay, so diplomacy didn't work, can I fight him now? He asked. Gorillamon charged as Impmon stood back up swinging at the smaller Digimon with a fist that narrowly missed.

"No, we're not fighting Impmon, we're leaving."

"Seriously, he's trying to kill me, he was after _me_. I have to fight." Impmon protested. Part of Henry could see the logic in that, the other part of him only saw Devimon. The latter won out.

"I said we're leaving." He repeated.

"Do you know how much damage he could do to the city if we don't stop him?" Gorillmon's attacks were hitting closer and closer to Impmon now, they needed to make a decision and fast.

"Not as much a Devimon would do!" Henry snapped.

"So that's what this is about, huh? If we work together we can beat him without me Digivolving, but we have to fight."

"Why don't you ever listen to me? We're not going to fight him, I can't risk Devimon getting out again. If you so much as try to fight Gorillamon I'm done with you."

"I guess we're done then." Impmon said coldly. "Bada boom!" The small fireball hit Gorillamon in the chest to no real effect. The reprisal came as a right hook that once again sent Impmon to the pavement. Despite his pronouncement of being done with Impmon Henry froze in horror as Gorillamon's canon began charging. The horror was cut short by a white furred foot slamming Gorillamon in the face and sending the attack careening into a nearby building. Takato and Renamon had arrived.

* * *

Takato was relieved to see that Impmon was unharmed, or at the very least not deleted. He was surprised to see Henry fighting a wild Digimon, the blue haired boy had struck him as a pacifist. "Is everything okay here?" He asked. Neither Henry or Impmon answered, the two just glared at each other.

"_Okay going to need to figure that one out later."_ He mused.

"Energy Cannon!" Renamon leaped away from the energy blast and landed gracefully net to her Tamer.

"Takato, I think we should end this quickly." She said. Takato nodded and pulled a Modify card out.

"Digi-Modify: Speed activate!" He called as he swiped the card through his Digivice. Renamon disappeared after fuzzing like static and reappeared grappling Gorillamon.

"Diamond Storm!" The Renamon's signature attack took Gorillamon to pieces and Renamon absorbed its data, causing the Digital Field to dissipate. Takato was just about to ask what was going on with Henry and Impmon when he heard a voice he'd been dreading hearing again despite his earlier plans.

"You again? It'd be nice if I could go to fight a Digimon without having to trip over you two and your pet Digimon all the time." Takato groaned, could his luck get any worse? Rika and Guilmon were now on the scene. "What happened to the Digimon that was here anyway?"

"Renamon and I took care of it." Takato said.

"You took care of it? It must have been really weak then." Rika said.

"For your information it was Champion, Gorillamon." Takato shot back. If he wasn't mistaken Rika actually looked mildly _impressed_, or at least contemplative.

"So the Lynxmon _wasn't_ just a fluke. You might actually be a challenge given some time..."

"Wait a second, how do you know about the Lynxmon..." He asked but then his attention was drawn by other matters, namely the drama unfolding between Henry and Impmon.

"What are you still doing around here? I told you I was done with you if you so much as tried to fight Gorillamon." Henry said.

"That's fine with me, I don't need a Tamer who would just let me die." Impmon relied angrily.

"Whoa, wait, _what_? You were going to let your partner die?" Takato stared at Henry reevaluating him, when they met he seemed friendly enough, but after something like this maybe he didn't want anything to do with Henry after all.

"He wouldn't do what I told him to. What good is a Digimon who doesn't listen?" Henry asked.

"He has a point." Rika said.

"You stay out of this!" Takato snapped "Now Impmon what exactly happened?'

"Try telling me what to do again gogglehead and Guilmon will be downloading your pet fox before you can say oops." The Digimon Queen snarled. Takato ignored her and waited for Impmon to answer his question.

"That Gorillamon was after me, I wanted to defend myself, but Henry would've rather let it rampage through the city." Impmon said.

"I'm not risking Devimon again, once you're gone it will never be a problem again. Get out of my face." Henry said.

"Fine I don't need you anyway." Impmon said. Both Tamer and Digimon began to walk in opposite directions briskly.

"Guilmon, let's take care of Impmon once and for all." Rika said.

"Pyro Sphere!" Guilmon called, letting a fireball loose from his mouth. It slammed right into Impmon's back and exploded, burying him in a crater. Henry just kept walking. Guilmon charged forward to finish the job only to find Renamon in his path.

"Tell you're fox to move gogglehead or this will be a two for one special. You saw how dangerous that Devimon was, we can't risk it Digivolving again." Rika said.

"Impmon, go!" Takato called. He didn't have to be told twice Impmon ran as fast as he could. "Without Henry what are the chances that Impmon will Digivolve? Not very high. Look Rika, we can't keep meeting like this. I want to offer you a deal. Renamon and I will leave you alone as long as you don't attack anyone's Digimon partners."

"What's to stop me from just deleting Renamon and being done with you?" Rika asked.

"Well... Nothing really, we can't beat you and Guilmon. Think about this though. What happens if you come across a Digimon you and Guilmon can't beat alone, unlikely as that may be. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to call on somebody for backup?" Takato tried to make his language as flattering as possible, feeding into Rika's ego to make her more agreeable.

"Let's get one thing straight gogglehead: Guilmon and I will _never_ need your help. We're the prefect partnership. That said your little fox might make a good scout so I know what to use against strong opponents. So I'll take your deal and not attack other people's partners." She said.

"Thank you Rika." Takato extended his hand. Rika shook it and then smirked.

"Of course since Impmon was abandoned my his Tamer that means he's fair game." Takato blanched at that. It was sound logic. He really hadn't thought that one through very well.

"If I find he's under my protection and off limits."

"So you want to make it a race gogglehead? So be it."


End file.
